Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gestures as he talks with journalist from a balcony of the Palais Coburg hotel where the Iran nuclear talks meetings are being held in Vienna,
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Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resigned from his post citing "shortcomings" in his work and thanking the Islamic Republic for giving him a chance in a bizarre Instagram post.

"I am apologising you for all the shortcomings...in the past years during my time as foreign minister."

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resigned from his post citing "shortcomings" in his work and thanking the Islamic Republic for giving him a chance in a bizarre Instagram post that took much of the world by surprise.

"I am apologising you for all the shortcomings...in the past years during my time as foreign minister ... I thank the Iranian nation and officials" he wrote on his Instagram page jzarif_ir.

Iran's ruling theocratic government operates on the will of its supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, making it rather opaque. Zarif's apparently abrupt resignation came on the same day that Khamenei and General Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran's foreign forces, met with Syria leader Bashar al-Assad.

Zarif as foreign minister routinely wowed even his enemies as he appeared for years to win public relations blitzes in nuclear negotiations with the US. President Hassan Rouhani, left, speaks as he is accompanied by the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi on a visit to the Bushehr nuclear power plant. AP Photo/Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno

Zarif deftly navigated social media and closed-door negotiations to craft the Iran deal and routinely mock the US on Twitter. Just two weeks ago, Zarif contributed to the popular Twitter "ten year challenge" meme by suggesting President Donald Trump's National Security Adviser John Bolton was still trying to bomb Iran.

But Zarif's public role in the Iran deal negotiations hurt him domestically with anti-Western hardliners.

"One can only wonder if the Islamic Republic is seeking to respond more forcefully to the Trump administration's maximum pressure strategy, and is considering a change in personnel as the sanctions escalate," Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said in a statement to Business Insider.